Pierre Coubertin, a French educator, loved sports in his youth and was very interested in the splendid culture of ancient Greece. In 1896, he founded the modern Olympic Games and began his life as a sports activist. He served as the president of the International Olympic Committee for 27 years, advocated the Olympic spirit throughout his life, and was known as the "Father of the Olympics". On September 2, 1937, when this great heart stopped beating, the whole world was moved.
Coubertin was born in Paris, France in 1863 to an aristocratic family that believed in Catholicism. His father was a royalist bureaucrat, and his mother was engaged in charity and a devout Christian. Coubertin was the youngest child in his family. From his youth, he had a wide range of interests in sports, including boxing, rowing, fencing, and horse riding. He has been smart, diligent and studious since he was a child. After studying abroad, he admired the erudite rhetoric teacher Father Caron. For this reason, he had a strong interest in literature and history courses, and dabbled in the splendid culture of ancient Greece with great interest. After graduating from high school, he attended the Military Academy and then studied education. In order to pursue further studies, he went to the UK to study. There, he devoted himself to studying the history of British education and wrote academic papers on the educational thoughts of Thomas Arnott, a British child educator in the 18th century. Arnott once said: Sports is an activity for young people to educate themselves. This famous saying aroused the spark of devotion to physical education in Coubertin's mind. At that time, he also examined the current situation of education and sports in the UK, and expressed great appreciation for the physical education classes, extracurricular sports activities and regular outings in schools there. He hoped that physical education classes could also be set up in French schools to cultivate students' collectivism and hard work. The spirit of exercise and strengthening the body. At that time, he was deeply saddened by France's defeat in the Franco-Prussian War in 1870, and hoped to revitalize France by reforming education and enhancing people's physical fitness.
Under the influence of ancient Greek culture and the influence of the British bourgeois education at that time, he gradually developed the idea of ??reforming the French education system and advocating sports. After graduating from college, Coubertin did not listen to his parents' advice and got involved in the military and legal circles, and resolutely chose the path of education and sports.
After returning to China, he successively published "History of France after 1870", "Reform of the Education System", "Guiding Principles of Sports", "Ideals of Sports Psychology", "Memories of Britain and Greece" A series of works such as "British Pedagogy" and "British Pedagogy" put forward many suggestions for reforming education and developing sports, which attracted the attention of the French people and had a certain international influence.
Between 1875 and 1881, with the efforts of European archaeologists, the ruined and immortal ruins of the ancient Olympic Games were continuously excavated, and the results of the excavation were quickly announced every year. . Therefore, Coubertin, like other people interested in Olympia, could listen to the announcement in time and detail. In this regard, he proposed a very valuable excavation plan. At that time, he wrote: "The Germans excavated the ruins of Olympia, but why can't France start to restore her ancient glorious history?"
In order to realize his ambition, Coubertin crossed the English Channel westward, An examination of the development of sport in the UK. In 1887, he made a report on "A Comparison of the Secondary Education Systems in France and the United Kingdom". He spoke highly of the British inclusion of outdoor competitive games into educational content, and advocated that competitive games should also be carried out among French students and reformed with a focus on sports. educate. In May 1888, Coubertin proposed in response to the problem of students being overworked due to overworked studies: "The only solution is to let the children play." That year, Coubertin became the secretary-general of the French School Sports Training Preparatory Committee. The following year, under the promotion of Saint Clair, the "French Sports Federation" was established. In the same year, Coubertin represented France at the Sports Training Conference held in Boston, USA. During the meeting, he further understood the dynamics of world sports development and keenly felt that the development of modern sports is moving towards internationalization, and a number of international individual sports federations have been established one after another. For example, the "International Gymnastics Federation" was established in 1881, the "International Rowing Federation" and the "International Skating Federation" were established in 11892. These organizations laid the foundation for the birth of the modern Olympic Games.
In order to further investigate the development of sports in various countries, Coubertin took great pains to visit some European countries.
In 1890, he visited Olympia, Greece, for the first time in his life, the birthplace of the Olympic movement. When he saw the ruins of the ancient Olympic Games, he was very moved and came up with the idea of ??holding an Olympic Games participated by all countries, hoping to enhance the friendship between athletes from various countries.
This year, Coubertin was entrusted by the French government to investigate and study the sports work of universities. Therefore, he took the opportunity to send a sports status survey to many countries in the world. Through investigation, he found that various international sports organizations are full of contradictions and confusions, the antagonism is very serious, and sports are becoming increasingly commercialized. This made him realize that the historical experience and traditional influence of ancient Greek sports can be used to promote international sports. At the same time, he deeply felt that the modern Olympic Games should be founded as soon as possible in the spirit of the ancient Olympics, with "unity, friendship, and peace." "" spirit to guide the game in order to eliminate all kinds of chaotic and unhealthy tendencies in the field of sports. As a result, he actively embarked on the work of creating the modern Olympic Games.
In 1891, Coubertin reorganized the "Uly Simon Committee" into the "High Council of Sports". In the same year, he also founded the magazine "Sports Review", which he used as a basis to enthusiastically promote his sports ideas. At that time, Father Didon, an admirer of Coubertin, founded an academic club and put forward the slogan "Faster, Higher, Stronger". Coubertin admired and agreed with this slogan very much, and later used it as the slogan of the International Olympic Games. Because it embodies the human spirit of always improving and making progress.
On November 25, 1892, Coubertin delivered a speech entitled "Revival of the Olympics" at a meeting commemorating the third anniversary of the founding of the "French Sports Federation". He formally proposed the idea for the first time. Initiative to create the modern Olympic Games.
In order to realize this initiative quickly, Coubertin proposed that the "French Sports Federation" initiate and convene an "international sports conference" attended by representatives of important "sports federations" from all over the world. Specifically, Negotiate the revival of the Olympic Games. To this end, a "preparatory committee" was established headed by Coubertin and composed of celebrities from the UK, the United States and France. Afterwards, he traveled across the oceans to Britain, the United States and other countries to further publicize his ideas for reviving the Olympic Games. . Under his promotion, an international sports consultative conference was held in Paris in 1893 to discuss the establishment of the modern Olympic Games.
After years of hard work and careful preparation by Coubertin and his colleagues, the "Congress for the Restoration of the Olympic Games" was successfully held in Paris from June 18 to 24, 1894. 79 official representatives from 12 European and American countries attended the meeting. At this historic meeting, the Charter for the Restoration of the Olympic Movement was unanimously adopted, defining the purpose of the modern Olympic Games and stipulating that only amateur athletes were allowed to participate. In order to prepare for the modern Olympic Games, the International Olympic Committee, the permanent leadership body of the Olympic Games, was also formally established. The famous Greek poet Ze Vikelas was elected as the first chairman, and Coubertin was elected as the secretary-general. The meeting also decided that the first modern Olympic Games would be held in Greece in April 1896. From now on, according to the tradition of the ancient Olympic Games, it will be held every four years.
In October 1894, Coubertin once again conducted an on-site inspection of the Olympia area. In order to save money and facilitate transportation, he canceled his plan to hold the Games in Olympia and decided to build a new stadium in Athens that could accommodate 5,000 spectators in the style of ancient Greece to host the first modern Olympic Games. After Coubertin's many efforts and efforts, and with the funding of the wealthy Greek businessman George Avilov, the first Olympic Games was successfully held in Athens on April 5, 1896.
Coubertin requested that the Games be held around the world and opposed Greece as the permanent venue for the Games. He believes that the glorious history of the ancient Olympic Games belongs to the Greek nation and all mankind. Only by spreading it widely in different countries and regions and becoming an international event can the Olympic spirit be carried forward and have more vitality.
In order to defend the purity of the Olympic spirit, Coubertin published his masterpiece "Ode to Sports" during the Stockholm Olympics in 1912. He sang about sports enthusiastically and expressed his Olympic ideals. For this, he won the gold medal in the literary and art competition of the Olympic Games.
In 1913, Coubertin carefully designed the flag for the International Olympic Committee, which is a white borderless flag with five colored rings of blue, black, red, yellow and green in the middle. . It symbolizes the unity of the five continents and the meeting of athletes from all over the world at the Olympic Games with fair, frank competition and a spirit of goodwill.
In addition, Coubertin also opened up the field of sports psychology in sports. He published famous works such as "Treatise on Sports Psychology" (1913) and "Pedagogy of Competitive Sports" (1919). He also published his opinions on sports classification and made his own contribution to academic research on sports.
From 1896 to 1925, Baron Coubertin served as President of the International Olympic Committee. Responsible for the leadership of the organization. During his tenure, the number of IOC members grew from 14 to 40. At the same time, with his support, more than 20 international special sports federations were established. In 1924, due to his old age, he voluntarily resigned from his 28-year position as president of the International Olympic Committee, but he was appointed as a lifetime honorary president.
Thirteen years later (that is, September 2, 1937), Baron Coubertin died of heart disease in Lausanne at the age of 74. In accordance with his last wish, Coubertin's body was buried in Lausanne, Switzerland, and his heart was buried in Olympia, the birthplace of the ancient Greek Olympics. He hopes that even though he is buried underground, his heart can still beat with the pulse of the Olympic movement.